Bombs exploded outside five churches in Baghdad and mortar rounds hit near a hospital and a hotel frequented by foreigners, as US forces loosened a cordon around the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah after several days of clashes with rebels there.
Meanwhile yesterday, the US military said the deadline for Shiite militiamen to turn in their weapons in the Baghdad district of Sadr City had been extended for two days. Friday had been the deadline for militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to exchange guns for cash under a deal to end weeks of fighting with US troops there.
PHOTO: AFP
Once the handover is complete, the US military will verify that no major weapons caches remain and Iraqi forces will assume responsibility for security in Sadr City. The US hopes the deal will enable them to focus on the more dangerous Sunni Muslim insurgency.
But over the last couple of days their fears have been more immediate: that like last year, insurgents will ratchet up violence in timing with Ramadan, which Iraqi Sunni Muslims and many Shiites began on Friday. Other Iraqi Shiites started fasting yesterday.
In Fallujah, the center of the Sunni insurgency, residents said the Americans had relaxed a cordon they threw up around the city after stepped up air and ground attacks this week against insurgents, including some said to be loyal to the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
US troops were allowing residents to leave the city through the northern exit and people were walking freely about the streets yesterday, residents said.
US jets and artillery had pounded targets in the southern and eastern part of Fallujah around sundown Friday as residents were taking the traditional meal that breaks the daily fast during Ramadan.
One resident, Salah Abd, said American troops had sealed off major roads out of the city, 65km west of Baghdad, preventing residents from leaving.
The attacks began Thursday after peace talks between the Iraqi officials and city leaders broke down over the government's demand that they hand over al-Zarqawi, believed responsible for suicide bombings and beheading foreign hostages.
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